Chapter 77: Chapter 77

The master of the Mu Tower.

Khairos was working out hard in the tower master’s room.

Strength training, commonly known as iron pumping.

He had been repeating high-intensity exercises for four hours without rest.

Suddenly, he stopped exercising.

‘What is this energy?’

A familiar energy was emanating from the basement.

It must mean that his doppelganger had started to move.

“Who is it?”

Khairos, the master of the Mu Tower and known as the Fist Saint, had great pride as a martial artist.

Therefore, he did not easily acknowledge anyone who wasn’t a decent martial artist.

The same was true for the martial artists residing in the tower.

In Khairos’ eyes, they all lacked something.

Even the NPCs over level 200 in the tower couldn’t catch his eye, so how could a stranger between levels 100 and 150?

He had seen countless martial artists, but he had never once shown himself before them.

Because they were all unimpressive.

But this time, the situation was different.

“This is the first time the doppelganger has appeared.”

Sending out a doppelganger weakened to Lv. 170 meant that the martial artist who visited this time was quite skilled.

“…But he won’t be able to win.”

No matter how much his power was weakened, he was the Fist Saint.

It was a test that the stranger, who couldn’t exceed Lv. 150, couldn’t win from the start.

“It’s a shame. But if he summoned the doppelganger, he must be quite skilled.”

But that didn’t mean he would go down and show himself.

When he was level 150, he had summoned the previous Fist Saint and clung to him persistently, but in the end, he was defeated.

He had endured for 12 hours and 32 minutes.

Even he, who had risen to the position of Fist Saint, couldn’t win, so there was no way this martial artist could win.

“One hour. If he lasts for an hour, I’ll acknowledge him.”

* * *

Lv. 170 Fist Saint Khairos.

He was over 2 meters tall and looked to be about 130 kilograms.

Even that 130 kilograms seemed to be all muscle, with no fat.

‘Wow, Khairos appears for a level 104?’

Jeong-Hoon laughed in disbelief.

It seemed that Khairos was summoned by comprehensively considering his class, stats, and skills.

‘This is even better.’

If he could defeat Khairos at Lv. 170, things would go much easier.

As Jeong-Hoon took a stance, Khairos grinned and quickly closed the distance with his footwork.

Whoosh!

Khairos threw a punch at Jeong-Hoon’s face.

When Jeong-Hoon twisted his body to avoid the punch, Khairos, as if he had expected it, bent his elbow and struck Jeong-Hoon’s chin.

But Jeong-Hoon used his movement technique to dodge that attack as well.

“Oh?”

Khairos’ eyes lit up.

“Don’t be surprised too soon.”

Jeong-Hoon began to perform Underworld King’s Fist Technique 1st form.

Even though it had declined and only the soul remained, it was a martial art that had even faced the Fist King.

But Fist Saint Khairos skillfully defended against Underworld King’s Fist Technique 1st form.

He even counterattacked, starting a fierce exchange of blows with Jeong-Hoon.

‘Underworld King’s Fist Technique 2nd form.’

The Underworld King’s Fist Technique unfolded and rose to the 2nd form.

Even then, Khairos wasn’t pushed back at all.

Indeed, a Fist Saint is a Fist Saint.

Jeong-Hoon was repeatedly impressed by Khairos’ strength as they exchanged blows.

Wham!

Khairos’ elbow struck Jeong-Hoon’s temple.

Even Jeong-Hoon, with his vast experience, couldn’t help but be surprised at this moment.

‘Amazing. Even with his level reduced to 170, he’s this strong.’

Khairos was no less than any of the strong enemies Jeong-Hoon had faced.

But that was all.

Those who were far above him couldn’t even be compared to Khairos.

And he was the one who had trampled them all and risen to the top.

Thud!

Jeong-Hoon’s fist pierced Khairos’ abdomen.

At the same time, Underworld King’s Fist Technique rose to 3rd form, and the energy of the Underworld King became even thicker on his two fists.

“You bastard!”

A smile appeared on Khairos’ face as he allowed a clean hit.

Thud!

Jeong-Hoon’s fist struck Khairos’ abdomen once again, starting to pressure him.

Thud! Thud!

Despite the continuous attacks, the smile didn’t leave Khairos’ mouth.

That’s right.

Khairos was enjoying this battle.

‘Underworld King’s Fist Technique 4th form.’

The Underworld King’s Fist Technique instantly rose to the 4th form.

The energy of the Underworld King flared up, covering Jeong-Hoon’s shoulders.

At that moment, Khairos’ eyes changed.

“This won’t even make me flinch!”

[Lv. 170 Khairos raises ‘Transcendent Body’ to the maximum.]

[Lv. 170 Khairos uses ‘Fist Flash’.]

Khairos disappeared from Jeong-Hoon’s sight in an instant.

Wham!

Jeong-Hoon’s head was lifted slightly as he was hit on the chin.

Khairos had kicked him in the chin.

Fist Flash.

When the skill is used, the agility of the body is doubled.

It was one of the skills that could only be learned after reaching the Fist Saint level.

But this wouldn’t be enough to bring Jeong-Hoon down.

[Underworld King’s Fist Technique 4th form]

-Proficiency: 100%

-Fist Damage increased by 25% (stackable)

-Damage Reduction increased by 20% (stackable)

Additional abilities that are added each time the form level increases.

The damage of the fist was one thing, but with the 20% damage reduction added, Khairos’ attacks couldn’t inflict much damage on Jeong-Hoon.

[Your senses become sharper.]

Jeong-Hoon activated his heightened senses, increasing all of his senses for 60 seconds.

He then quickly activated Blackfield.

[Blackfield is activated.]

As he activated the skill, the floor around Jeong-Hoon turned black.

[All stats are increased by 1.2 times.]

At the same time, Khairos’ stats decreased.

[Due to the effect of Blackfield, all stats of monsters that have entered the area are decreased by 3%.]

“Wh-What is this…?”

Khairos’ face was filled with surprise.

It wasn’t over yet.

[All stats are increased by 15%.]

[Damage reduction of 20% is applied.]

[The time limit is ‘1 hour’.]

With the use of the stat-boosting ring, Khairos’ power was further weakened.

From now on, it was Jeong-Hoon’s time.

Thud!

Jeong-Hoon’s fist pounded Khairos’ body.

Crack!

At that moment, he heard the sound of something shattering.

“My body…? Ugh!”

Khairos screamed for the first time.

The smile on his face was nowhere to be found.

Transcendent Body.

One of the features of this skill was that it created multiple layers of transparent barriers to protect the body.

Those barriers had been shattered by the Underworld King’s Fist Technique.

‘Underworld King’s Fist Technique 5th form.’

The Underworld King’s Fist Technique had risen to the 5th form.

He hadn’t expected to see the Underworld King’s Fist Technique reach the 5th form so soon.

It was unexpected, but he was a little grateful to Khairos for giving him the chance to experience the power of the 5th form firsthand.

[Underworld King’s Fist Technique 5th form]

-Proficiency: 100%

-Fist Damage increased by 25% (stackable)

-Defense Ignore increased by 20% (stackable)

-‘Passive: Underworld King’s Will’ activated

The passive skill, Underworld King’s Will.

[Underworld King’s Will]

-Type: Passive

-Grade: Legendary

-10% chance to reduce the monster’s HP and defense by 50%. (Cannot be stacked)

It was a crazy option.

It was worthy of being a Legendary grade Underworld King’s Fist Technique.

Even the probability was decent.

10% meant it would succeed once every ten times.

Thud! Thud!

Jeong-Hoon poured on the punches.

[Lv. 170 Khairos’ HP and defense are reduced by 50%.]

As he continued to strike, the skill automatically activated.

Khairos, feeling his strength drain, desperately tried to shake Jeong-Hoon off.

But Jeong-Hoon clung to him even more tenaciously and continued to rain down punches.

“Ugh…!”

Unable to withstand the fierce attack, Khairos disappeared.

His HP was already low, and with it halved and the destructive power of the 5th form of the Underworld King’s Fist Technique added, there was no way he could survive.

[The test is over.]

As soon as the test was over, his vision changed.

“You’re done.”

Marthen approached Jeong-Hoon.

Since the test was over, he was automatically moved out of the testing area.

The door was locked with the same lock as when he first entered.

“I guess it locks automatically.”

“Yes. When you enter to take the test, the door closes automatically and the lock is activated.”

“I see.”

An exclamation mark appeared above Marthen’s head.

It was time to receive the reward.

As Jeong-Hoon was about to receive the reward, the exclamation mark above his head suddenly disappeared.

And someone came rushing in from outside the testing area.

“T-Tower Master?!”

It was Khairos, the owner of this Mu Tower and the Fist Saint.

===

[NPC Information]

-Nickname: Khairos

-Level: 641

-Class: Fist Saint

===

* * *

Earth Korea Management Team.

Manager Oh Jin-Soo, who was watching the user’s gameplay on the monitor, jumped up from his seat at the sight that unfolded.

“Holy shit!”

His voice was so loud that everyone in the management team turned to look at him.

And they immediately realized what had surprised him.

“What’s wrong?!”

“What happened again?”

Did the user do something amazing again?!

Curious, the staff gathered around Oh Jin-Soo.

Oh Jin-Soo said in a trembling voice,

“Th-The Mu Tower Master appeared…”

“Mu Tower Master? What’s that?”

The staff, except for Oh Jin-Soo who had joined early on, seemed to not know about the Mu Tower Master.

It was no wonder.

The Mu Tower Master was one of the characters that Earth had intentionally set outside the norm.

A monster unleashed in a place where levels 100-150 played.

“He’s a level 641 NPC…”

“641?!”

The staff, with surprised faces, put down their work and gathered around Oh Jin-Soo.

Their eyes turned to Oh Jin-Soo’s large monitor.

It really was level 641.

And even a Fist Saint.

“Fist Saint? What kind of grade is this?”

It was obvious that it wasn’t an ordinary class.

“It’s Legendary… It’s an NPC that’s not supposed to appear in front of users.”

The staff were shocked by Oh Jin-Soo’s further explanation.

“It’s not supposed to appear in front of users? Then what’s that?”

The monitor was showing the scene of the Fist Saint meeting the user.

“I don’t know either…”

Even Oh Jin-Soo didn’t know how this situation was unfolding.

One thing was for sure, the martial artist had summoned the Fist Saint.

‘He defeated the Fist Saint.’

Was this even possible?

Even though the Fist Saint was weakened to level 170 and most of his abilities were lost, he was still a Fist Saint.

And he had been crushed by nothing but martial arts, without any other tricks.

‘Crazy… That user is crazy!’

How could he surprise people like this every time he did something?

“But what is the Fist Saint trying to do?”

“He’s taking the user to the tower master’s room.”

“Huh?! The restricted area has been lifted!”

Originally, the third floor of the Mu Tower was blocked off to prevent users from accessing it.

But when the Fist Saint guided the user, the blocked area was temporarily opened.

“Is it a bug…?”

“It can’t be a bug. If it was a bug, Earth headquarters would have taken action immediately.”

“That’s true… They monitor it in real time 24 hours a day.”

[The monitoring program is forcibly terminated. This is an area where monitoring cannot be performed.]

To make matters worse, the monitor screen turned off and red letters appeared.

“…Crazy.”

Oh Jin-Soo and the staff froze in place for a long time.

* * *

[The restricted area is temporarily lifted.]

Oh, this is a first.

The restricted area could be considered an area that Earth had blocked off to prevent users from entering.

Sometimes, the restricted area would be temporarily lifted, and that was when the user met the hidden conditions.

‘I guess defeating the Fist Saint was the hidden condition.’

Thinking back, the Fist Saint was a monster, not like a level 170 at all.

He had made Jeong-Hoon use the Underworld King’s Fist Technique up to 5 forms, and he had barely defeated him by activating Heightened Senses and Blackfield.

Even the weakened Fist Saint had only used two skills, Transcendent Body and Fist Flash.

‘He’s similar to or even stronger than I was before I returned.’

Why did such a skilled person hide himself?

It was truly puzzling.

“Come in.”

Khairos led Jeong-Hoon into the tower master’s room.

The tower master’s room was filled with various equipment, starting with dumbbells.

‘It’s crude, but it’s quite similar to the equipment in a gym, isn’t it?’

Jeong-Hoon’s gaze turned to the dumbbells, and Khairos grinned.

“I heard that outsiders use those tools to train their muscles. It seems to be true.”

“Yes… We do use those for strength training.”

Of course, with much lighter weights than those.

[Dumbbell]

-Weight: 200kg

A small dumbbell weighed 200kg.

The one next to it was 400kg.

“Haha, I see. Would you like a drink? It’s an energy drink made by an alchemist. It’s a special drink packed with all the nutrients.”

“Thank you.”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Jeong-Hoon took the drink and sat down on a chair.

Khairos sat in the seat of honor.

He looked at Jeong-Hoon with serious eyes.

“…I’m curious. How did you defeat my doppelganger?”

In Khairos’ eyes, Jeong-Hoon’s level was only 104.

Even though his doppelganger was weakened, it was still level 170.

There was a whopping 66 level difference, so he couldn’t believe that he had defeated the doppelganger.

“I just kept hitting him until it worked.”

“Kept hitting him? Hahaha! I see.”

Khairos burst into a hearty laugh, as if he was very pleased with Jeong-Hoon’s answer.

And an exclamation mark appeared above his head.

The reward that should have been received from Marthen had been transferred to Khairos.

[Quest completed.]

[Receive rewards from Khairos.]

When Jeong-Hoon completed the quest, Khairos placed an item on the table.

————